Bush vs Gore

[Optimizer]

Said and done. Steel and Lumber production down by 25%. Aluminum down by 40% (even worse in Mexico, better in Canada). Industry cost up by 50% (was 40%). Getting profit from an industry is still possible, but the margin should be more modest now.

Connecting AI railroads to each other, and letting them handle the traffic, is easy money, especially if there are lots of AI players (this scenario allows 15 of them). However, rail construction cost can rise through the roof in this scenario, maintenance cost is high, and a long network raises the terror alert. You also need your own trains to carry Steel, Lumber, Troops and Diesel - not to mention the Ammo needed for Gold medal.

[belbincolne]

Course I had a job finding this with name change (Hawk - perhaps you could change Subject to Bush v Gore?).

Challenging scenario and only got Silver. There was a lot more Ammo on Map this time so scarcely needed to find the Warehouse changing Uranium into Ammo - had over 50 loads carried at end but kept on as they were the highest earners of all my trains despite long haul and use of AI rails.

Failed to get Gold because of PNW - economy had been stuck on Normal for 5 years if it had gone up to Boom I'm sure I'd have made it as making loads of money and paying big divs (over $2m) and buying stock back but only had 33% of my stock - should have bought more of this rather than the AIs.

Enyway main thing was that I enjoyed playing it

[Hawk]

(Hawk - perhaps you could change Subject to Bush v Gore?).

Good idea - and done!

[Orange46]

I played a version dated March 23. The map was very buildable, with lots of cargo. I chose to start in New York City and build a Pa RR route to Cleveland and Detroit. Other RR's were making lots of money, while I just kept chugging along with my $100k steam engines. But, eventually, I updated to ugly Class 132's and built lots more track, including to AI lines (using their stations) and things started to move along. So, I started to focus on buying more stock, and the long good economy I experienced at start succored me into buying too much of my own stock on margin. When the margin calls came, when the bubble burst, I was fortunate to have a very profitable RR and just enough AI stock to sell to not have to sell my own company's stock - though once I had to repurchase shares to keep the stock price up. I never built or bought any industries or station improvements, other than an Ammo plant in Amorillo, and that investment went sour not too long after I bought it; but it did produce all of the ammo I needed. Despite the depression and stock buy back, I built 42 stations and connected to a half dozen or so AI stations. At year 17, my only worry was whether my stock would rise enough to get to the needed goal, but rather than hanging on to cash for future stock pumping actions, I built into Toronto and points east, as stock markets usually also like rising sales and profits. Then, the economy finally got to normal and Gold popped up shortly thereafter.

I liked the scenario and the buildable mountain terrain - at least from Mexicali to El Paso, and San Diego north along the coast where I built. I didn't try any other mountainous terrain, other than the PRR route I took at the start. I also did not experience any problems while my security was low and did not need to manage cargoes that much, although I put more effort into ammo than was probably needed.

Fun scenario and nice map.

[Optimizer]

Here is a new version. Lumber and Steel production rates restored, prices lowered instead. As before, Lumber & Steel prices increase when you have built lots of rail. Use this to your advantage.

Has anyone tried this on Expert? I have tried to adjust the details so that I can barely get a gold medal on Expert, after much practice.

Please try all available presidents; first Bush with congressional majority, real-world Bush (from endorsement of Nader and the Florida drama), and Gore. Then McCain, Hillary or Obama. The difference can be crucial.

[Orange46]

My gold, detailed 2 posts above, was on expert.

[Optimizer]

The new version is slightly harder. Please give it a try.

[Orange46]

Well, I did download the one attached to the prior post, so once I finish on the west coast, i will give it a go.

[Orange46]

Just finished v1.3 and I can't tell you if it is more difficult, as I changed my strategy and did better than the first time. This time, instead of going over the Alleghenies from Philly, I went down the coast to Jacksonville, cut over to Atlanta from Savanah, proceeded to Mobile to head off an AI RR, then went coastal to Mexico, as you seem to not like El Paso (where I spent 5 weeks learning to shoot down aircraft), got some chemicals and then went on to Mexicali. This time, I did not purchase an Ammo plant, but I did purchase an Aluminum Mill which I could supply from New Orleans, but it probably wasn't necessary. I also broke down and bought out a failing RR to help boost my PNW, linked the tracks over mountains from Charleston and brought the 2 inherited AMDs to the east coast to start my only express services. I probably should have done that earlier with the same or better engines, but I didn't. While waiting for my net worth and ammo (this time I did not regift ammo), I bought out a start up RR up in Oregon and built it up to Seattle and down to SF, then connected an AI RR in the Bay area to San Diego and Gold surprised me, as the times were Booming and my PNW went over with no stock manipulations. I also changed preidentail support both times, and I won just as they announced that Hillary won!

I think i enjoyed this playing more than the first, as the AMD's were nice to run. I was again on expert.

[panzersam]

Help! This is the first time for me to play this campaign and it is wonderful. But when the date become the April-May of 2002, it stopped. what should I do now?
Fine, I started the game again and playing in expert.

Well, may I suggest my idea about the rail itself ? Money isn't a problem in this campaign, i can get 5000k profit after the third year.
But may I import rail and lumber and steel from the outside world? The logistic problem let me need to pay double for contructing track and i don't want to waste time on transport low profitable lumber and steel. You know? Import materials from the market is cheaper than produce it in the US itself.
I'm playing with 15 AI now, hope I can beat them off.

[panzersam]

I can't pay the track with these kind of price now.

[panzersam]

It is the backbone of my company.

[Optimizer]

I am proud to announce version 2.0.

It has been rebuilt from the beginning. The economy is simplified. Feel free to ask questions.

[Hawk]

Now available in the archives.

Sorry it took so long for me to get it added.

[Optimizer]

Has anyone tried 2.0?

[RayofSunshine]

I just concluded a number of other scenarios of which I was having a problem, both with the "bugs/errors or whatever, as well as just trying to get a strategy. And just now with that of the Bush/Gore. Still having the problem with the ammo requirement. Was able to get aluminum and some relief from the diesel costs, but not able to do much with that of the ammo. Maybe this will spark a few of the real tycoon user creators to give some comments and suggestions of strategy.

This is a scenario of good concept, in the challenges and goals. Really enjoyed playing it. Even with the short fall of the medals. LOL

[Blackhawk]

I just started playing this map but a few things I noticed in the editor already:

The diesel events say YTD diesel hauled > 3 and > 12. But in the events you say at least 3 loads in a year for a reduction in cost and 12 for 2 levels of reduction. So shouldn't the event test be for >= 3 and >= 12 ?

Also for the subsidies. You say it's 5k for every car load. But I'm not really sure the event test rewards 5k for each load. I haven't looked at all the events in depth fully to follow all the variables but it looks to me as if the event tests weekly to see if there are more loads shipped in total now, than there were last week in total. And if less than <50 loads YTD. If so you'll get 5k that week. So you'll get 5k a week if you ship something with less than 50loads YTD, but you won't get 5k per carload. I may be reading the event wrong but that's how it seems to work to me.

[Blackhawk]

I'm not sure the diesel event works to increasing the fuel efficiency correctly either. I know with shipping more than 3 I get a level increase, but shipping more than 12 I don't know if I get the benefit of a 2 level increase. With all the events that caused diesel fuel efficiency to decrease it may have been possible that it even with a 2 level increase I wouldn't have noticed any difference and improvement from atrocious fuel mileage. Although I thought I did a test early on in the scenario to see if it would go up +2 or just +1 levels when I hauled more than 12 diesel loads and I think it just went up 1.

Intro: Paper -50% but doesn't say where.

Since troops help increase the reliability it might be nice to have a counter to know how many troops have been hauled.

The 2nd subsidy for bridges, engines, or credit ratings is triggered incorrectly. It should be => 5, not <= 5 as I'm guessing you only want it to trigger if a democrat is in office. (Hillary & Obama)

[Blackhawk]

Well as for the scenario itself I was able to get gold on expert in early 2013. I started between Detroit-Cleveland-Pittsburgh and expanded to Chicago and Columbia. Several years later I expanded to Indianapolis and worked my way down to Nashville. After my Cleveland-Pittsburgh line was up and running, I ran some track off of the AI's tracks. Washington DC to Philadelphia, then Houston to Dallas and Shreveport.

I was a little worried about industry as it would cost 150% normal, but I still found good places to build industries and make large profits. I saw a new dairy farm appear, so I bought it. I took out a lot of bonds over the course of the map (when my credit and the economy where good) to build these industries. I used a few paper mills up in Canada. (St. Jermome and Calgary) Later a paper mill in Shreveport as it was accumulating a lot of extra pulp wood there. I built a dairy processor in Quebec (which was supplied by the AI) and later in Chicago after lots of milk had accumulated there. And a textile mill off in the farms near North Carolina. The industries were very helpful in providing a large and stable amount of income.

I was a little worried about the PNW but then as luck would have it, around 2010 a couple of the AI players finally decided to start a company. I bought up all the stock I could and owned maybe 6-7,000 shares of the 10,000 shares. Then at the end of the year it split.... 9 to 1. I bought up more, and saved up some of my companies money, issued stock, and moved in for the most expensive take over I could afford. After this I went from 6,500 in debt, to $2,500 in the black and only a million away from the 15 million PNW. So I just bought some more of my own company, and some other companies which were paying high dividends and was able to meet the PNW goal easily in the end.

For me ammo was no problem. The railroad in Nashville-Knoxville ran track over the mountains to connect to the Washington DC railroad, which had expanded down to Raleigh by this time. (eventually they'd go to Savannah and Atlanta as well). As previously mentioned I had connected to Nashville with the rail network I built in Chicago-Cleveland-Pittsburgh area. I then used the branch I was building off of the AI player between Houston-San Antonio, to continue to build upward from Dallas-Shreveport to Little Rock and Memphis and connect to Nashville. I saw chemicals just sitting in San Antonio so I had them hauled up to Chicago to a munitions plant. It didn't take long for me to realize this wouldn't be enough to get all the ammo I needed (nor would just the 1 warehouse in Dallas that could convert uranium into ammo as the warehouse was too busy converting other things) So I built up from Dallas to Oklahoma City and to Amarillo. Amarillo was full of chemicals, so I hauled in some steel, bought the munitions plant and upgraded it, and waited for the ammo to be produced. It wasn't long til I had 4 full trains headed to New England. It took a little time as they used AI track between Nashville to Philadelphia, but it seemed cheaper and I had more than enough time to just wait for the trains to get there. If I really wanted to I could have went over the mountains by Pittsburgh and connected to my own Philadelphia track.

For me it seemed difficult to build around New York and into the New England area.

I'm not entirely sure about some of events either. I'm not sure how creationism & stem cell bans result in decreased farm production?

I also ran diesels the entire game so to see I had a "carbon neutral transport system" in the gold medal message was sort of funny.

Nice map overall and at first it proved to be challenging and I was questioning where I should start my railroad. Once I got up and running things then went pretty smoothly for me. Despite the attempts to likely stir the player to more "efficient" electric track, I stayed with diesel and thought the increased fuel costs still made up for the cost of the electric track and increased cost of an electric locomotive. (Although I just looked and it seems like building electric track is about the same costs as building regular track after all the modifiers. oops)